Departments shouldn't exist in a silo. In particular, tech departments should work with stakeholders throughout the business in order to achieve maximum results.As marketing shifts focus to be more analytical and tech-oriented, technology and marketing departments should work together to put the customer and their experience first. Below, nine technology executives from Forbes Technology Council offer their best tips on working with your company's marketing department to improve the company as a whole.

1. Focus On Customers' Pain Points Often times, marketers and developers put features and perceived benefits at the top of their respective priority lists. However, they need to both put the customers’ pain points at the top of their minds. Marketers will be able to more effectively get the attention of prospects, and engineering will have a properly focused mission. A common focus like this will also bring the departments closer together. - Tim Maliyil, AlertBoot

2. Rely On Hard Data More Than Perception Too often, both marketing and technology make decisions that bring perceived benefits, and not real ones (for example, when it comes to a site's features and UX/UI). If everything is measured and tested, marketing can ask better questions and IT can provide better answers. For instance, marketing can ask "How much will this improve our conversion rates?" to which IT can say "A/B testing showed this purchasing flow to be more effective." - Alexander Kharlamov, Madison Square Garden Company

3. Start At The Top The CIO and the CMO must have a solid relationship and be able to communicate freely and candidly about business challenges. Without this communication and collaboration at the top, the teams will struggle to work together. I have found the two areas are more alike than they are different. Once the teams see the similarities, the differences tend to be irrelevant. - Jeffrey Ton, Bluelock

Departments shouldn't exist in a silo. In particular, tech departments should work with stakeholders throughout the business in order to achieve maximum results.As marketing shifts focus to be more analytical and tech-oriented, technology and marketing departments should work together to put the customer and their experience first. Below, nine technology executives from Forbes Technology Council offer their best tips on working with your company's marketing department to improve the company as a whole.Shutterstock

1. Focus On Customers' Pain Points Often times, marketers and developers put features and perceived benefits at the top of their respective priority lists. However, they need to both put the customers’ pain points at the top of their minds. Marketers will be able to more effectively get the attention of prospects, and engineering will have a properly focused mission. A common focus like this will also bring the departments closer together. - Tim Maliyil, AlertBoot

2. Rely On Hard Data More Than Perception Too often, both marketing and technology make decisions that bring perceived benefits, and not real ones (for example, when it comes to a site's features and UX/UI). If everything is measured and tested, marketing can ask better questions and IT can provide better answers. For instance, marketing can ask "How much will this improve our conversion rates?" to which IT can say "A/B testing showed this purchasing flow to be more effective." - Alexander Kharlamov, Madison Square Garden Company

3. Start At The Top The CIO and the CMO must have a solid relationship and be able to communicate freely and candidly about business challenges. Without this communication and collaboration at the top, the teams will struggle to work together. I have found the two areas are more alike than they are different. Once the teams see the similarities, the differences tend to be irrelevant. - Jeffrey Ton, Bluelock

4. Put Customer Experience First Customer experience is the sum of all impressions that your customers accumulate while they are interacting with your company. It can make or break any company, and both Marketing and IT play a critical role. Marketing drives the messaging to win customers' hearts and minds while IT ensures that all of the customers' interactions are personalized with connected information systems. - Geoff Mair, Vonigo